State Department officials are downplaying the prospect of civil warfare in Iraq despite Wednesday's bombing of the Golden Mosque in Samarra which they say was aimed at promoting sectarian conflict. They say the current social tensions are partly a legacy of Saddam Hussein. The bombing of one the holiest sites in Shi'a Islam led to crisis meetings among senior administration officials and vigorous condemnations of what the White House termed a senseless crime.But officials here are insisting that considerable progress has been made over the last two years toward a multi-confessional and multi-ethnic Iraqi society, and that the Samarra bombing should not tip the country toward civil war.The first official U.S. reaction to the attack was an unusual joint statement by the American ambassador in Baghdad Zalmay Khalilzad and the U.S. military commander in Iraq, General George Casey. ... http://www.voanews.com

Bush is having another Harriet Miers moment.You may remember Miers, whose Supreme Court nomination infuriated conservatives and fractured Bush's political base. The same pattern is happening again, thanks to a Bush administration decision that would put six ports under the management of a company owned by an Arab nation with terrorism issues.This decision, which Bush said Tuesday he had no intention of reversing, could have political repercussions for Bush — and for nervous congressional Republicans up for re-election in November. Democrats also would relish the chance to paint the Bush administration as weak on national security, with the help of an actual example.And that is just what conservatives are saying....http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002820788_portsanal22.html

A massive police search is continuing for the armed gang who stole at least £25m from a security depot in Kent. In what is thought to be Britain's biggest robbery, the manager, his family and 15 staff at Securitas were threatened and forced to co-opearate. Securitas staff at the depot in Tonbridge spent the night conducting an audit to assess how much was taken. The Governor of the Bank of England has called for a review of security arrangements for banknote storage. The gang first struck on Tuesday on the A249 near Stockbury, Maidstone, when two members posing as police officers persuaded the manager to pull over in his car. The manager got into their unmarked vehicle believing them to be police officers but was handcuffed. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/4742064.stm

Production at a lucrative gold mine in the Indonesian province of Papua has been suspended because of a demonstration by local illegal miners. Protesters, some armed with bows and arrows, have blocked a road leading to the mine complex, being protected by some 400 police and soldiers. Clashes between the two sides on Tuesday left two security guards injured. The US-owned facility is one of the world's largest gold and copper mines. But in recent years it has been mired in controversy. Local police contacted by the BBC say around 300 men, women and children have set up barricades across the road leading to the mine complex. Armed with bows, arrows and home-made spears, the protesters are demanding the right to continue their illegal mining in the area and say they will not leave until they have met the mine's boss. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4738480.stm

Gunmen have killed at least 11 people after entering a prison in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, police have said. They said all of the victims were believed to be Sunni militants, including several foreigners. The attack in the largely Shia city comes amid a wave of anger among Iraq's Shias over a bomb attack on one of their holiest shrines in Samarra. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani appealed for calm, and urged Iraqis to work together to avert a civil war. Police in Basra said the gunmen entered into the Mina prison, disarming the guards and seizing a group of suspected Sunni militants. The bodies of the inmates were later found in the city, amid reports that they had been tortured before being shot. Among the victims were Egyptian and Saudi nationals, police said. The gunmen were reportedly dressed as police officers and arrived to the prison in several vehicles. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4741762.stm

Vaccinating the UK's poultry is not currently needed as a precautionary measure against bird flu, many leading animal health experts say. Only if an outbreak occurs and other preventative strategies fail should the government consider the option, they told the BBC News website. Current bird flu vaccines do not offer complete protection from infection and could, in some circumstances, "hide" the virus in affected flocks, they believe. A government spokesperson said that, at present, vaccines were "not a path that they want to go down". "Vaccination offers potential benefits but currently available vaccines are too limited to provide a general solution," he added. The UK has not yet been struck by the virulent form of bird flu, H5N1; but ministers admit the chances of it arriving are increasing and have called for raised vigilance. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4737276.stm